Importers expect brisk movement for another record crop of Mexican mangoes this summer.

Through the first week of June, Mexico had shipped about 31 million boxes of mangoes to the U.S., about 2 million more than last year at the same time, said William Watson, executive director of the Orlando-based National Mango Board.

Volume should pick up even more when importers begin sourcing from the Nayarit growing region of Mexico the week of June 17, and the southern Sinaloa region later in the month, Watson said.

“The crop is good and movement is steady,” he said. “As always, we’re keeping an eye on the rains in the producing areas. So far, so good.”

The mango market had stalled a bit in early June, but peak production promised aggressive promotions and brisk movement leading into the Fourth of July, said Chris Ciruli, partner in Nogales, Ariz.-based Ciruli Bros.

Mexico is on track to ship 10% to 15% more than last year’s record total of 58 million mangoes, Cirul…

Bloomberg cited anonymous sources who said the two sides were in talks. Burkle, founder and managing partner of US investment fund Yucaipa Cos., wants to rebrand the Fresh & Easy outlets under the Wild Oats banner, the report said.

When contacted by just-food, a Fresh & Easy spokesperson declined to comment. "We don’t comment on rumour or speculation," the spokesperson said. Officials at Yucaipa could not be reached for immediate comment.

Tesco said in April it would quit the US after six unsuccessful years in the market. The Fresh & Easy chain h…

Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesA Safeway store in San Rafael, Calif. The company has 213 stores in Canada.

OTTAWA — The Canadian retailer Sobeys said on Wednesday that it would pay $5.8 billion in cash for the Canadian operations of Safeway, a move that would make it a leading grocery chain in western Canada.

Sobeys, which is based in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, has used a series of takeovers to become the second-largest grocery chain in Canada after the Loblaw Companies of Toronto. While it has long been rumored that Safeway might leave the Canadian market, the sale came as something of a surprise.

During a conference call with investors, executives from Sobeys and the Empire Company, the publicly traded holding company that owns the grocer and is controlled by the Sobey family, declined to discuss how the deal was reached with Safeway, which is based in Pleasanton, Calf. But they were quick to dismiss analysts’ suggestions that So…

The Blue Nile in Guba, Ethiopia, during its diversion ceremony on May 28.(William Lloyd-George/AFP/Getty Images)

Summary
Ethiopia's initiation of a dam project on the Blue Nile has quickly drawn the ire of Egypt, which is critically dependent on it as a source of much of the country's freshwater needs. As Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said June 9 following Ethiopia's refusal to halt construction of the dam and ahead of his trip to Addis Ababa to discuss the project, Egypt will not give up a "single drop of water from the Nile." "No Nile, no Egypt," he said.

While Egypt has struggled to attract diplomatic intervention on its behalf to thwart Ethiopia's dam construction, tensions have reached the point where Egypt has suggested the use of force to keep the dam from potentially lowering the Nile's water levels downstream to unacceptable levels. There will be serious international pressure to keep the dispute over…

(Reuters) - U.S. government investigators began an urgent search for Edward Snowden several days before the first media reports were published on the government's secret surveillance programs, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Snowden, who has admitted to providing details of the top-secret programs, had worked on assignment at a Hawaii facility run by the National Security Agency for about four weeks before he said he was ill and requested leave without pay, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

When Snowden failed to return, that prompted a hunt for the contracto…

Economic Freedom Feels GoodFree at last, Free at last, Puerto Armuelles is Free at last

Puerto Armuelles has been in economic shackles for years because of the enormous debt owed by Coosemupar.

Coosemupar is a worker cooperative that owns and operates the many banana plantations in the Puerto Armuelles area of Panama.President Martinelli and members of Coosemupar, signed an agreement that states that the government will:

Pay off Coosemupar’s 19.7 million dollar debt. The 24 banana plantations will then revert to Government ownership.

Give relief and land to the plantation workers who still live on the plantations.

Sell the 24 banana plantations (fincas) to companies that will provide the greatest number of jobs.

This is great news for those of us living in Panama, especially in Puerto Armuelles.

How Did The Situation In Puerto Armuelles Get So Bad?

Until the early 2000s, Puerto Armuelles was a prosperous and beautiful beach town.